From Australia: The latest in tech and innovation
In the past week, funding allocations in ICT, return to work, cybersecurity and tech skills development has dominated news outlets.
NSW to direct up to $750m in IT spending towards SMEs
After declines in spend on ICT services and products, the NSW government has pledged up to $750 million of its annual information technology (IT) purchasing budget towards SME’s. This stems from a range of policies directed at enhancing the local IT sector.
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CBD offices see a rush as workers return but work from home pressure remains
Across the nation there has been a strong increase in office occupancies in CBD’s. Office workers appear to be returning to the office, as public health restrictions relax and safety concerns are addressed. Despite the increase in occupancy, surveys reveal staff prefer flexible working arrangements.
Woolworths to spend $50m equipping staff with ‘tech’ skills
Over the next three years Woolworths has committed to spending at least $50 million on upskilling staff in technology areas such as digital, data analytics, machine learning and robotics, with further investment planned for advanced customer service skills, team leadership and agile ways of working. The venture comes as part of their aim to build out their eCommerce and online operations.
World Economic Forum calls cybersecurity one of the “key threats of the next decade”
The 16th edition of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report shone a spotlight cybersecurity cyberattacks now being commonplace. The report revealed, 39% of respondents said cybersecurity failure was a critical threat to the world right now and ranked as the most pertinent risk on the list after infectious disease, extreme weather events, and livelihood crises.
Facebook and Snap Inc call for a GDPR-aligned Australian Privacy Act
Two major social media platforms are encouraging the Australian Government to consider implementing many of the elements present in Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This comes as the country is set to refresh the 33-year old Privacy Act.